Who Discovered Subatomic Particles| Meson was discovered by
Hideki Yukawa
Hideki Yukawa was the first Japanese to receive the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1949. He studied Physics at Kyoto University.
Yukawa predicted the existence of a subatomic particle called the meson.
His theory of nuclear forces said that there was an ‘exchange force’ inside an atomic nucleus that counteracted the mutually repelling protons.
This held the nucleus together. A particle , formed by the fusion of protons and neutrons , would be created in this exchange.
Yukawa calculated both the range of the force and mass of the particle.
In 1936 and 1947, whatever he had predicted was discovered and proven.
He also developed the theory of K. capture, or electron absorption by the nucleus.
He later became a visiting Professor at Princeton and at Columbia University.
He was appointed director of the Research Institute for Fundamental Physics in Kyoto University where he was already a professor of theoretical physics. A hall there was named after him.